Planning a Trip

Visitor Information

The Western Australian Tourism Commission is the official source of information on the state. Its website (www.westernaustralia.com) provides a good overview, and you may find the Australian Tourist Commission's website (www.australia.com) useful, or the Web pages of local tourism boards. A private company, Visit WA (www.visitwa.com.au), offers an online tour-planning service.

Also contact the Western Australian Visitor Centre in Perth, which dispenses information about the state and makes bookings. See section 1 of this chapter for information. The Department of Environment & Conservation website (www.dec.wa.gov.au) has information on national and marine parks.

When To Go

Perth and the southwest are blessed with long, dry summers and mild, wet winters. You'll want some warm gear in winter, but temperatures rarely hit freezing point. Far north of Perth, summer is seriously hot; temperatures soar to between 104°F and 120°F (40°C-49°C). The cooler months of May through September (for the Kimberley) or October (for the Outback Coast) are the times to go north.

Getting Around

Before you plan a driving tour of this state, consider the distances (it's three times as big as Texas) and the mostly flat, monotonous countryside. The forests, coastal scenery, and vineyards of the Southwest make for pleasant driving; otherwise you should fly, especially if time is a factor.

If you do hit the road, remember that gas stations (keep the gas tank full!) and emergency help are far apart. Road trains (up to 53m/174 ft. long) and wildlife pose more of a threat on the roads than in any other state. Try to avoid driving at night, dusk, and dawn -- all prime animal-feeding times.

The Royal Automobile Club of Western Australia, 832 Wellington St., Perth, WA 6000 (tel. 13 17 03; www.rac.com.au), is a good source of maps and motoring advice. For a recorded road-condition report, call Main Roads Western Australia (tel. 1800/013 314 in Australia).

Skywest (tel. 1300/660 088 in Australia; www.skywest.com.au) is the state's major regional airline. Qantas (tel. 13 13 13 in Australia; www.qantas.com.au) also provides service from Perth to some smaller centers.

One of the great train journeys of the world provides a passenger service from the eastern states. The Indian Pacific runs twice weekly on a continent-covering 66-hour trip from Sydney via Adelaide and Kalgoorlie to Perth. Greyhound Australia (tel. 13 14 99 in Australia) has one interstate coach service, from Darwin through Broome to Perth.

Inside the state, passenger trains run only in the southern third. They are operated by the Public Transport Authority (PTA), also known as TransWA (tel. 1300/662 205 in Western Australia, or 08/9326 2600; www.transwa.wa.gov.au), from Perth to Bunbury, 2 1/4 hours south of Perth; to Northam, an hour or so east in the Avon Valley; and to Kalgoorlie. TransWA also runs coach services throughout the southwest of WA, north to Kalbarri, Geraldton, and Meekatharra; to the wine and forest regions of Margaret River, Augusta, and Pemberton; south to Albany; and southeast to Esperance. The only railways in the northern part of WA are private, carting vast tonnages of iron ore; no passengers.

All major car- and motor-home-rental companies have offices in Perth.

Tour Operators

Western Australia's two biggest coach tour companies, Australian Pinnacle Tours (tel. 1800/999 069 in Australia, or 08/9417 5555; www.pinnacletours.com.au) and Feature Tours (tel. 1800/999 819 in Australia, or 08/9475 2900; www.ft.com.au) serve Perth, the Southwest, Monkey Mia, the Northwest Cape, and attractions about a day's drive away, such as Wave Rock, and the Pinnacles. Australian Pinnacle Tours also does four-wheel-drive tours. Global Gypsies (tel. 08/9341 6727; www.globalgypsies.com.au) runs four-wheel-drive tag-along safaris into the Outback, including Ningaloo and the Kimberley. The tours are fully escorted and catered, and there is limited passenger seating (three seats per tour). Global Gypsies can help with the hire of 4WD vehicles and all equipment.

Aerial tours make sense in Western Australia. Look into the personalized or set tours offered by Complete Aviation Services (tel. 1800/632 221 in Australia, or 08/9478 2749; www.casair.com.au) or Kookaburra Air (tel. 08/9354 1158; www.kookaburra.iinet.net.au). Tours from Perth can take you throughout Western Australia, including the Kimberley, the Top End, and the Red Centre.

Landscope Expeditions is an excellent tour program run by the state Department of Environment and Conservation. The University of Western Australia handles bookings (tel. 08/6488 2433; fax 08/6488 1066 for a free schedule; www.dec.wa.gov.au). You'll be helping scientists on research projects, such as monitoring endangered loggerhead turtles on Dirk Hartog Island, studying Australia's sea lion colonies in the Abrolhos Islands near the edge of the continental shelf, or recording animal and plant species in Cape Arid National Park on the south coast, among others.